Hillary Clinton: Libya could 'descend into chaos'

The Secretary of State has issued a warning over Libya's future as Defence
Secretary Robert Gates says the US military is preparing a range of
responses to the crisis.

11:42PM GMT 01 Mar 2011

The current crisis in Libya has two potential outcomes, Clinton told the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, a transition to a peaceful democracy or descent into chaos and civil war.

Clinton spoke to the House panel in defence of a proposed one per cent rise in the country's non-military overseas aid budget a day after the United States began moving warships and aircrafts closer to Libya, and froze $30 billion in assets, stepping up pressure on leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Two amphibious assault ships, the USS Kearsarge and the USS Ponce, are due to arrive shortly in the Mediterranean Sea. At the Pentagon Defence Secretary Robert Gates also confirmed that 400 Marines are being sent to the region, poised to take part in evacuation and humanitarian operations if required.

The display of military might near the crisis-torn North African state is widely seen as a symbolic show of force as neither the United States nor its NATO allies have shown an appetite for direct intervention in the turmoil that has seen Gaddafi lose control of large swaths of his country.

The United States and its NATO allies, however, are considering imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. Defence Secretary Gates said the US military is trying to give the White House a broad choice of options as it attempts to force Gaddafi from power.